A recently developed project is helping school aged children receive adequate clothing. The project is called Appropriate Clothing For All School Children (A.C.F.A.S.C.). The goal of Project ACFASC is to make sure that no child in Fayette County goes to school without adequate clothing.

Since this project began in April 2003, 271 referrals have been received for children needing clothing. The Fayette County DFCS Community Resource Specialist coordinates requests. The children are referred primarily from school counselors who know the families in their school and know their circumstances. Other referrals come from DFCS staff and private and public pre-school programs. Each referral indicates the need the child presents, i.e., “the child is wearing clothing which is too small, too large, worn over and over again, is worn in character, or inappropriate for weather conditions.”

Once a referral is received, the child is matched with a partner who wishes to shop and obtain requested clothing items for the child. The partner gets only the child’s first name, age, and sizes. Usually a partner shops and returns the items to the project coordinator, who then gets the clothing to the referral source, who gets the clothing to the child’s parent or guardian. This process should take about seven to ten days and is confidential. Thus, the ACFASC acronym, everyone “acts fast.” When a child needs clothing, there should be very few hoops to jump through. Some partners prefer to donate money or gift cards to the program.

School groups, men’s and women’s faith based groups, youth groups, social and civic clubs, businesses, individuals, and families have joined as partners. To date, there are 79 partners. More are needed to keep up with the ongoing referrals for children needing clothing. This is the only program of its kind in Georgia.

The newest partners are a group from Sandy Creek’s High School International Business class taught by Dan Smith. This group donates money every year to worthy organizations as a way of teaching the students about corporate responsibility and giving back to the community. This year they chose to donate $250 to DFCS for the ACFASC project.

The program is beneficial for the children, families, partners, and the community. It helps to boost confidence, self esteem, and sometimes hope. When a child succeeds, we all succeed.

For more information about how you could become a partner, call Sharon Herbert, Fayette County DFCS, (770) 460-2477, or e-mail ssherbert@dhr.state.ga.us.

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